| name | katalyst-identify-collections |
| description | Identify the collections in a katalyst project — the recurring kinds of item the content is made of — and declare them in `.katalyst/`. Use when a user knows roughly what content they have and wants to define its object types, set up collections, or structure a knowledge base. Step 1 of the Define stage; points forward to katalyst-define-schemas for each collection's schema. |
Identify collections
A collection is a named group of like items — the recurring object type a
knowledge base has many instances of (meeting notes, people, endpoints). This
skill names those types and declares them in the project's .katalyst/ config,
so katalyst knows what the content is made of. Defining each collection's shape
(fields, constraints) is the next step, owned by katalyst-define-schemas.
If the CLI is missing, run ./bootstrap.sh. If there is no .katalyst/ yet, run
katalyst init to scaffold the project.
Find the object types
Work from the catalog evidence (see katalyst-catalog) or the content itself.
A good collection is a set of items that are instances of the same thing:
- They answer the same question ("who is this person?", "what happened in this
meeting?").
- They share a body shape and a core of common frontmatter fields.
- They live together or follow a naming/location convention you can express as a
directory and a filename pattern.
Split when two groups have genuinely different shapes; merge when an apparent
distinction is just an optional field. Prefer a handful of clear collections over
many near-duplicates.
Declare them
Each collection is an entry in the project config: a directory, a filename
pattern for its items, and (later) the checks its items must pass. Add one
entry per object type you identified. Use katalyst collection to inspect what
is configured, and katalyst check to confirm items resolve into the collections
you expect before going further.
Next
For each collection you declared, continue to katalyst-define-schemas to
formalize the fields its items must have and the constraints they obey. That
skill treats this one as its prerequisite: identify the collections first, then
define each one's schema.
